Strategic Framework Plan for Parks & Trails

A planning framework that identifies priority park and trail catalyst projects across Jackson with the greatest potential to deliver community impact.

The Strategic Framework Plan for Parks & Trails identifies 20 catalyst park and trail projects with the ability to create high impact for communities throughout the City of Jackson. The research was showcased at the 2024 Jackson Design Forum and provided an opportunity to talk about future parks and trails across the city. Tree developed the research, analysis, and curated the public engagement event bringing together government, non-profit, and business leaders.
While developing the Strategic Framework Plan for Parks and Trails, we used 12 city-scale maps to analyze and evaluate where park and trail projects can have the greatest impact in Jackson. The maps measured characteristics like:
1. Urbanization Patterns (urban walkability vs suburban car-oriented)
2. Population Density
3. Employment Centers
4. Commercial Districts
5. Food Access and Food Deserts
6. Learning Institutions and Resources
7. Residential Neighborhoods
8. Public Land Ownership
9. Vacant or Underutilized Properties
10. Stakeholders and Geography
11. Public Safety
12. Environmental Challenges (urban flooding or urban heat island)
Combined, the maps create an evaluation matrix that determines where to place catalyst park and trail projects. From the map series, we developed a “Composite Map” that shows how all the layers overlap and spatially connect. This planning process is referred to as the “McHarg Method” which is a landscape architecture process that involves creating a graphic model of an area and using it to identify the best possible options for development. Ian McHarg created this planning process in the 1960s when he published Design with Nature to bring a more analytical and ecological approach to urban planning.
2023 - Ongoing
City
Jackson, Mississippi
Project Partners: Great City Mississippi Foundation
Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning: Travis Crabtree PLA
Photography: Imani Khayyam

The Strategic Framework Plan was developed based on a city-scale analysis and evaluation matrix.

The factors included current parks and trails, urbanization, access to resources, publicly owned land, vacant and blighted property, demographics, stakeholders, safety, and environmental challenges like urban flooding and heat island effect. The layers were superimposed into on “composite map” to determine target areas for new catalyst projects.

Through the Jackson Rising citywide public engagement process, community members participated in facilitated discussions focused on parks and trails projects across the city, with the Strategic Framework Plan available as a resource. Feedback from these sessions demonstrated strong support for many of the catalyst projects identified in the study.

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The Strategic Framework Plan identifies a network of catalyst park and trail projects that together strengthen access to public space and improve connectivity across Jackson. These projects were selected based on their ability to serve surrounding neighborhoods, leverage existing natural systems, and create citywide impact when implemented as part of a coordinated network.

Key catalyst projects highlighted on the map include major park investments such as Parham Bridges Park, LeFleur’s Bluff Livingston Park, Battlefield Park, and Sykes Park, along with citywide trail initiatives like the Museum Trail and its associated connectors. Additional projects align with creeks, waterways, and underutilized corridors, using green and blue infrastructure to support flood mitigation, pedestrian mobility, and long-term neighborhood revitalization.

Rather than functioning as isolated improvements, these parks and trails are envisioned as interconnected public assets. Together, they form the backbone of a phased strategy to expand Jackson’s park system, strengthen pedestrian and bicycle networks, and prioritize equitable access to high-quality public space.